Apple Grape Buns

It must be love, love, love.. That’s all I can say about this yummy fruity bread!

Source 

Variation on Apple Buns with Water Roux from the Scent of Spice blog

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (1140 cal)

- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp whole wheat bread flour (165 cal)

- 1/2 cup ground oats (160 cal)

- 2 medium apples (160 cal)

- 1/4 cup grapes (15 cal)

- 2 tbsp honey (130 cal)

- 1/4 cup maple syrup (210 cal)

- 2 tbsp apple vinegar (5 cal)

- 2 tbsp sunflower seeds (95 cal)

- 3/4 tbsp yeast

- 1/2 tbsp salt

- 1 cup water at 90-100F

Total 2080 cal, 16 buns, 130 cal / bun

Instructions

1. Wash the apples and the grapes, discard the seeds, do not peel. Finely chop the apples and the grapes and puree in a food processor. 

2. Prepare water roux: mix 2 tablespoons of whole wheat bread flour with 1/2 cup of water and cook over medium heat in a small  saucepan, stirring continuously, until the roux thickens to a paste, so that when you stir it you can see the bottom of the pan. Remove form the heat and let cool to room temperature. The roux is supposed to make the bred softer and keep it fresh longer.

3. In a large container that has a lid, using a wooden spoon mix all the ingredients until all the flour is incorporated. Cover the container (not airtight) and let on the kitchen counter for about 2 hour until the dough approximately doubles in size. 

4. Use the dough after the 3-4 hour rest or refrigerate it in the same container still covered (not airtight). The refrigerated dough can be used over the next 10 days. Usually the no knead bread takes about 2 hours to ferment, but in this cake all the fruit makes it a little harder on the yeast, so it takes much longer for the dough to double in size. So you can either increase the yeast or wait longer.

5. On the baking day, sprinkle the dough with flour to prevent sticking and cut the desired amount. I use half of the dough at a time to make 8 buns. Each bun should be a size of a large plum. Dust it with flour and gently form a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Place the buns on a cornmeal or semolina coated pizza peel leaving 2 inches between the buns. If you do not use a baking stone, place the buns on a cookie sheet which will be used for baking. Let the buns rest for about 50 minutes (or 30 minutes if using non-refrigerated dough).

6. Place an empty broiler tray in the oven where it will not interfere with the rising of your buns.   About 30 minutes before baking preheat the oven with the broiler tray and the baking stone to 450F. If you do not use the stone, the preheat will be shorter.  

7. Right before baking you can brush the tops of the buns with an egg white wash made from 1 egg white lightly beaten with 1 tsp of sugar - this will make the buns shinier. Slide the buns onto the stone, if using or simply place the cookie sheet into the oven. Pour 1 cup of hot (not boiling) tap water into the broiler tray - be very careful here, the tray is hot there will be a lot of steam.  Avoid splashing the water on the oven glass door (the glass might crack).

8. Close the oven door as soon as possible to trap the steam inside. Bake for about 25 minutes until the buns are nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack. You can also brush the tops of the hot buns with soft butter for a glossy finish. 

Afterthoughts

Ever since I tried the Barley Apple Bread from the Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, I was in love with the amazing apple flavor. The original recipe turned out a little too rough for me, so I came up with the softer Apple Buns. They are my favorite comfort food at the moment. 

Yesterday I was on the way of mixing a new batch, when I saw the Soft Fluffy Japanese Style Sweet Rolls post, and the water roux in it caught my eye. So I tried adding it along with the grapes to the Apple Buns recipe. It did become much softer, don’t know if it’s the roux or larger amount of fruit, but it’s really really really good! The roux is also supposed to keep the bread fresh over time, but I guess I have to wait a couple of days to see how that works.